Russia’s Gazprom to buy turbines from Siemens for Chechnya plant

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Friday it has agreed to purchase two gas turbines from Germany’s Siemens for installation at a power plant it is building in Russia’s Caucasus Chechnya region.

Siemens said last year that it was reviewing aspects of its dealings with Russia after claiming that four of its power-generating turbines meant for southern Russia had been delivered to Crimea, which is subject to European sanctions on technology supplies after Russia annexed the region.

In October, however, Siemens said it was ready to participate in the modernization of power plants in Russia.

Gazprom, whose electric power arm Gazpromenergoholding is one of Russia’s biggest power suppliers, plans to open a plant in the Chechnen capital Grozny next year with a capacity of up to 360 megawatts.

It did not say in its statement on Friday how much it would pay for the two turbines.

Chechnya fought two wars against Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse, but now, in return for generous subsidies and a wide degree of autonomy, pledges loyalty to Moscow.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been blacklisted as part of Western sanctions against Russia but businesses in Chechnya are not subject to sanctions.